Love's Wrath
by Bml1997
Summary: Marissa and Kowalski have been sneaking out at night to see each other. What happens when it comes time to tell their leaders? Will Skippsy actually murder Kowalski? Will Skipper actually let her? (Contains Kowalski x OC)
1. Part 1

**AN-Hey everyone! :D So here is a one-shot I wrote after being bored for a good while in the car. I hope y'all enjoy it :D (Oh, and of course, message me if it seems like I need to adjust the rating, I wasn't sure if it needed to be high or not :/)**

* * *

Marissa giggles and kisses Kowalski's cheek as they lay together under the moonlight. Kowalski smiles and nuzzles her neck and sighs. They lay there in complete silence, listening to the crickets chirp and the the soft swish of the pond. Marissa rests her head and her flipper on his chest and he softly holds her flipper.

"It's a shame we can't do this more often."

Marissa sighs. "And there you go, ruining my bliss with your flapping beak."

"But I'm serious, Marissa, tonight has been excellent." He smiles at her and softly brushes his flipper through her feathers.

"You and I both know why we can't, Kowalski." She says as she snuggles closer to him. "Our skippers would get suspicious and have our heads if they found out."

Kowalski nods and sighs. "It still is a shame…"

"Yes...It is." She smiles as his flipper still brushes through her feathers. "Doris really doesn't know what she's missed out on." She chuckles.

Kowalski just smiles happily and nuzzles her again.

Again they lay there in the cool silence. The two nearly fall asleep if not for the sudden, though soft, hooting of an owl. Marissa stretches, looks at the sky, and sighs.

"We should go...It shouldn't be but a few hours until the skippers wake and we don't want them to know we've been out." She sits up.

Kowalski nods and sits up. He looks at her and then kisses her full on the beak and tries to push her back down.

She gently pushes him back and shakes her head. "No. It is time to go. It's too much to risk…"

"...Must we _really_ go now?" He sighs. "Surely an hour more couldn't hurt—"

"—No, we can't risk it. It's better this way than a little more bliss and then never being allowed to see another again. Patience." She says and kisses the tip of his beak. "Now help me up."

Kowalski stands up and pulls her up. "I'll walk you home."

"No, you moron, you'll go back to your HQ and I'll walk to mine. We don't need extra sets of footsteps out at my zoo to alert Skippsy. One set of tracks she may think I needed to go out for some fresh air after working with my chemicals all evening." She snorts. "I've heard love makes men stupid, but I swear it makes you a complete idiot."

Kowalski now looks highly unamused. "Fine. Text me when you get home."

"I will." She nods before sliding off right then, leaving Kowalski standing alone under the bright full moon. He stands and watches her until she is no longer in sight before waddling back to his own zoo. He slips in via a back entrance and silently unlocks his lab door and lays down in his bunk and smiles. Tomorrow was going to be horrible, but tonight...Tonight was bliss.

* * *

A week later, Marissa and Kowalski sneak out again and meet in the park. They exchange quick kisses and then Kowalski gets her flipper to lead her to their secret spot, but she doesn't move.

"What's wrong?" He then looks at her.

"Let's elope." She says.

Kowalski looks at her. "What? No, we can't do that." He shakes his head. "Our teams need us."

"Right…" She sighs.

"Why do you want to elope?" He looks at her, suspiciously.

Marissa looks at the grass. "I'm going to have to tell Skippsy about our outings…" She sighs.

This takes Kowalski aback and he looks at her. "Wh-what? Why?" He almost demands.

She says nothing.

"Are you breaking up—breaking up with me?" He looks at her sadly.

Marissa shakes her head. "No, it's not like that...It's because there is no way we can keep it a secret forever...And especially not now."

"What do you mean?" Kowalski stares at her and watches as she sits down on the ground.

"Sit down." She sighs.

Kowalski shakes his head. "No, not until you tell me what this is all about." He stands there, looking down at her.

Marissa gives him a stressed look but doesn't say anything.

"Mari, come on, tell me, what's wrong?" He sighs and starts to sit down as he still holds her flipper.

"I'm-I-I'm...Pregnant." She starts crying.

Kowalski looks at her in shock for a long minute before pulling her to him and holding her close. "Oh Marissa…."

Marissa cries and buries her face in his chest feathers.

"Surely there is some excuse we can come up with…" He murmurs.

"She's going to want to kill you! I just know!" She cries.

Kowalski rubs her back. "Maybe she would believe in you being parthenogenetic and had spontaneous egg production?"

Marissa gives him a look and sniffs. "She's ruthless, not stupid."

"It was worth a shot…" He shrugs and thinks some more as he rubs her back.

"I..I have one id-idea but it's risky." She sniffs.

Kowalski looks at her and nods for her to continue.

"We sign up for the breeding program on the computer secretly...Our zoos are so close that for sure we'd be put together most likely...The problem is that they may not grab us...They might grab I don't know, Skippsy and Rico, or Trixy and Skipper, there is just no telling." She wipes her eyes.

He considers this for a moment. "We sign up and have the others busy down below while we are up on the ice flow and the only penguin Alice and—" He looks at her.

"Andrew."

Kowalski nods. "And we will be the only penguins Alice and Andrew see so there can be no mistakes."

"What if the team intervenes?" Marissa looks at him.

"Then we pray the zookeepers win for once."

"They'll try to break us out."

"Wonderful, less explaining for us. We'll claim we were drugged." Kowalski shrugs. "We were not in control of ourselves, we will be out of blame."

"I doubt they'll let you completely out of the blame then…" She sighs.

"How about you don't worry about me? We have you to worry about." He says. "I say we sign up tonight on the computers and place the date to be tomorrow."

Marissa nods some and wipes her eyes. "I'm sorry…"

Kowalski hugs her closer. "No, no, don't be." He nuzzles her head. "This is a good thing, we just have to find a way for us both to survive it. You're supposed to be excited over something like this, not upset."

"But…"

"No buts, it's going to be one cute egg and it's going to have the most protective family ever." He kisses her head. "It's going to be just fine."

Marissa nods and sighs. She leans more on him and closes her eyes.

* * *

"Up and attem, men." Skipper orders and takes a sip of his coffee. "Due to the rain today, we'll be doing training inside."

Kowalski tiredly climbs from his bunk. He is silently both pleased and anxious of the rain. _Hopefully_ , Alice will choose to follow deadlines instead of the weather. He then wonders how he is going to be able to watch for Alice topside when he has to stay down there. Surely there was some excuse he could use?

"Actually, Skipper, I have an experiment that I will have to run outside in the rain." He says.

Skipper gives him a displeased look. "Fine, just don't come back sick." He takes another sip of coffee.

"Roger that, sir." He nods and disappears into his lab. Alright, some test tubes and beakers should suffice for this ruse. Also, he is sure Marissa _could_ be curious over the acidity of the rain around there—actually she probably couldn't care less, but she could _pretend_ to be interested in his findings. He then hops up the ladder topside with his glass beakers and sits them along an inconspicuous ledge before sitting under a slightly sheltered part of their habitat. Surely Alice shouldn't be too long now….

Kowalski begins to think about the night before. It had been too sudden for him to actually digest the information thoroughly last night. He and Marissa are going to be parents...How the Uranium 238 is that going to work with them living in different zoos?

"I suppose it would live with her but I'd get visitation rights...Though hatching eggs is more a guy's thing...Skipper will not be pleased...Skippsy will be even less happy." He sighs and leans back into the cubby.

"I had heard that their zoo wasn't doing as well...So maybe it and this zoo will merge...But then who would be the skipper if the teams merged? They don't seem like the skippers who would share authority and neither would give over their team and authority to the other…Mmh…" He sighs. "I supposed we should wait to worry about that later…"

"But how could I be a father? As Private would gladly tell anyone, none of the rest of us are very in touch with our offspring-rearing sides." He rubs under his chin. "This is going to be a challenge for sure…"

Kowalski then sees Alice approaching and waddles out onto the ice flow. Now as long as the others remained inside and wonderfully unobservant, this should go without issue.

"Come 'ere, you." Alice grumbles as she slams the plank across the pool and begins to step across.

Kowalski flinches and crosses his toes. "Please, please don't notice the thumping yet…" He mutters. He then waddles closer to her and holds his flippers up to be a simpler grab.

Alice swipes him up with a grumble and grabs the plank. Kowalski gasps as she practically squeezes the life out of him.

"Egads, woman! Is it possible for you to squeeze any harder? Did you forget you are carrying a living being?!" He squirms some, hoping to loosen her grip enough to allow sufficient oxygen supply to his brain.

Alive makes no notice of him as she enters the vet's office. "Here's that other one for the penguin love-nest thing." She sighs and hands the penguin off to the vet.

"Ah, yes, thank you." The vet nods and takes Kowalski from her. "This little fella will do just nicely." He says, giving Kowalski a quick once-over physical. "Very nicely indeed."

"Hey!" Kowalski exclaims as the vet starts to get a bit more thorough. "Good golly wally, you don't have to check there, sir. I promise, it is completely fine!" He snorts with a glare and makes an attempt to cover himself.

The vet chuckles and pokes Kowalski. "You must be a shy one." He then gets an injection from a drawer. "Now, now, be still. Just a little pinch and this should dispel any insecurities."

Kowalski watches him unsure. He sharply inhales at the quick stab of the needle, but tries not to make a large fuss. "Well...At least the drugs won't be too large of a lie." He sighs as the veterinarian begins to carry him into another room.

"Here you are, little one." He smiles and softly drops Kowalski into a darkened cage. "You two have a nice time now." He says before leaving.

Kowalski is relieved to see that it is Marissa in the cage...Though she certainly is not acting like herself under the influence of her own medication. She rubs on him like cat and he awkwardly looks at her. For one thing, he wasn't exactly in the mood...And for another she didn't even look like herself and she probably can't see since she is without her glasses. While he still has his wits about him, Kowalski softly feels on her and gets out her glasses and puts them on her beak. "That's better." He smiles and softly strokes her.

* * *

Skipper harumphs and taps his flipper on the table some hours later. Kowalski had been up topside for too long and was missing out on too much training. He looks over at Private, who is watching the Lunacorns, and Rico, who has fallen asleep close by.

"I suppose that leaves me." He murmurs before sitting his coffee down and climbing the ladder.

Besides the rain coming down in buckets, there is not a thing to be seen. The zoo had closed early from the rain coming down so hard, so of course there are no visitors to be seen.

Skipper notices a few broken and turned over beakers at the edge and floating in their pool. "What the deuce? Kowalski?!" He calls but gets no response. He waddles along the ice flow before spotting the muddy boot print and narrows his eyes.

" _Alice_ …." He growls. He then jumps out from the habitat and slides for the zoo office. Why did she take his lieutenant and not become suspicious of the rest of their absences? Granted, she isn't the most observant or caring zoo keeper, but it still should have sent up red flags.

Skipper silently hops up to the window and opens it. He slips inside with his back to the room and slowly turns around to look around the dark room. He sees movement and readies himself for a fight. "Who goes there?" He growls into the dark.

"I don't know, am I a friend or foe, Skippy?" A familiar voice snorts in the dark.

Skipper sighs and drops his flippers. "Skippsy...Why the Hoover's Dam are _you_ here?"

"I _could_ ask you the same...Or more importantly, why did your zoo kidnap Marissa!?" She growls, stomping over.

"I'm wondering the same about why Alice snagged Kowalski." He says and rubs under his chin and glances around. "Obviously, they're not in here."

"Did you need your fancy-dancy night-vision goggles to figure that out, Skippy?" She snorts. "It's been silent as a churchyard if not for your not-so-quiet entry."

Skipper rolls his eyes. "Enough talk. Let's check the back room." He mutters as he slides over and waits. "Well? What are you waiting for? A written, floral invite?"

"Maybe." She shrugs before hopping up on top of his head and opens the door. She then hops back to the floor as the door opens with an eerie creak. She turns on a flashlight and the two quietly waddle inside. She shines the light then upon a cage covered in an orange blanket.

Skipper motions that he's got it and tiptoes over. He quietly lifts the blanket and motions again for her to approach slowly with the light. The light shines upon the two sleeping scientists.

"What the fried kipper is your lieutenant doing sleeping on top of _my_ lieutenant?!" Skippsy hisses at Skipper.

"How the salmon am I supposed to know?!" Skipper growls and then rattles the cage. "KOWALSKI!"

Kowalski wags his tail in his sleep, however Marissa does wake up and looks sleepily at the skippers before nudging Kowalski.

" _Marissa_! What the deuce is going on?!" Skippsy growls.

Marissa sits up as Kowalski gets off. "Eh….."

"Well, er…" Kowalski continues for her.

"The humans they—"

"—Have this program, euhm…"

Skipper and Skippsy both narrow their eyes. "Y'all didn't."

Marissa clears her throat and doesn't look either in the eye. "We did…" Actually, she couldn't remember if they did or not, but she knew they had in the past at least.

"But we weren't in control of ourselves! We were drugged!" Kowalski blurts.

Skippsy gives Kowalski a look of death. "If she gets pregnant, I'm going to hunt you down and used your hide as the stuffing of my new pillow." She growls and then turns to Skipper. She points at him and glares. "And don't you _DARE_ protect him, or I'll take you out as well." She snarls.

Kowalski goes pale as a sheet and discreetly holds Marissa's flipper behind her back. She gives it a soft, comforting squeeze.

Skippsy then turns back to Kowalski. "Neither of you are going to want to raise it." She growls. "And Skips for _sure_ will not want it at his team. Therefore _I'll_ be the one stuck with it. Do I _look_ like a nanny to you?!" She growls.

Marissa shakes her head and opens her beak to speak, but Skippsy cuts her off.

"I run a top of the line commando operation, not a brothel, not a daycare." She snorts.

"Now, Skippsy, I think you're being a little over the top." Skipper rolls his eyes. "They couldn't help something they couldn't predict was going to happen. In any case, it is our fault for not checking the zoo computers routinely enough to delete any unwanted schedules."

Skippsy glares at him. "They _knew_ better than to do what they did."

"They were drugged." He gives her a level look.

Skippsy just snorts and looks at Marissa. "Let's go." She barks and grabs her flipper, but doesn't yank her roughly. She gives her a quick glance and leads her out.

Skipper sighs and waits for them to be out of earshot before looking at Kowalski. "Tell me what the kipper is going on. The more accurate, the more likely I can come up with something to save your bacon." He sighs.

Kowalski sighs. "Marissa and I have been seeing each other for a while...About six months."

"I'm not surprised. I knew you had been sneaking out, I just didn't know where." Skipper nods.

Kowalski looks flabbergasted. "Wha-what? How?"

Skipper shrugs. "I know everything that happens in this unit. Now continue."

"Well..last night we snuck out like usual...But..."

"Let me guess, she's already pregnant so you both had to devise some elaborate cover up scheme." He crosses his flippers.

Kowalski blinks. "That's exactly it..."

Skipper nods. "It wasn't that hard to guess. In fact, I'm not even surprised. The moment I saw how much the two of you acted like you hated each other I knew there were some underlying sparks. Everyone knows there is a fine line between hate and love sometimes." He says and sits down next to him. "And the two of you had enough sparks going to set a pyromaniac up for life."

"You never cease to amaze me, sir." He sighs.

Skipper nods and looks at Kowalski. "I'll have to still come up with a punishment for you, of course, but I'll see what I can do about Skippsy." He rubs his face. "And we'll wait until the egg comes to see who hatches it where. Who knows? The zoo overlords may have something entirely different planned." He shrugs.

Kowalski nods some and sighs.

"But you know I do not like being lied to, even more than I dislike when my team disobeys orders." He gives him a look. "It's going to have to be a high penalty, Kowalski…"

"Of course, sir." He nods.

"We'll decide on it after your clear from my sister's wrath." He stands up. "Now come on, you have an entire gut instinct lesson to catch up on."

* * *

Skipper, Kowalski, Rico, and Private sit a couple evenings later at their table playing a round of poker. However, the scientist is not on his best game. He's distracted by a feeling of impending doom. He lays another fish in the pot anyhow though he already knows he is going to lose.

Then suddenly, all of their concentrations are scattered with the slamming of their side entrance door. Skipper says nothing and gets up.

Skippsy marches in looking furious. " _That_ one is coming with me." She growls, glaring at Kowalski.

"No!" Marissa exclaims in tears, running in behind her. "No, Skippsy! _Please_!"

Skipper stands with his flippers crossed between her and Kowalski. "I'd suggest listening to your lieutenant, sister."

Skippsy snarls and gets toe to toe with Skipper. "I made a promise and I intend to keep it. I have a pillowcase back home with his name on it."

Skipper looks at her seriously and then looks at the others. "Get out of here, all of you." He orders. Rico understands the look and grabs Private and takes him down below. Kowalski and Marissa on the other hand do not budge. Skipper gives them a look. "You both, too."

Kowalski then slowly does lead Marissa into his lab and shuts the door. Both of the lieutenants bear a grim, nervous look.

Skipper then looks at his sister. "Now we are going to talk this out...Diplomalize some sense into the situation." He says.

"Like you're one for talk." Skippsy snorts and crosses her flippers. "I want justice."

"I am when it is the right thing to do, Skippsy." He sighs and makes two cups of coffee. "But first you have to calm down. "

Skippsy glares at him, but does sit down at the table. "What diplomatic lie are you wanting to test?" She snorts. "And just for you to know, diplomacy never works except between two idiots or cowards."

"I'm not out to make a deal, I'm just trying to help you see things differently. To see things in a way that doesn't end up with my team being a member short." He passes her a cup of coffee.

Skippsy plops one of the fish from the poker game into her cup and stirs it. "Then let me show you my view first." She rolls her eyes. "Let's start with they are not responsible enough so I'll have to be the one taking care of it."

"Well, it could teach them responsibility."

"If they wanted to be taught responsibility they could have gotten a pet! I hear crickets are popular right now, and they're lucky!" She sips her coffee and coughs. "What the deuce did you put in this, Skips?" She glances at him. " _Hemlock_?"

Skipper rolls his eyes. "If I wanted to poison you, it wouldn't be tasteable." He sighs. "I invoke our don't ask don't tell policy and just let it calm you down. Trust me, some days this is the best joe in the world."

Skippsy gives him a strange look and takes another sip. "Another problem is that it is a bad influence on the privates. I don't need my seventeen year old private out getting pregnant because Marissa did. And I know she looks up to her." She sighs. "It's bad enough Trixy's out dating as it is."

"Well, Private is a good kid and doesn't even know about that stuff yet." Skipper nods some.

"I know and that is what scares me. He's too easily persuaded and she could probably persuade him right into her bunk side." She gives him a look. "And he wouldn't know what he's doing until they discover the repercussions."

Skipper sighs. "I'm sure Trixy is smart enough to know better."

"I thought the same of our scientists but you know how that has played out." She scoffs. "A military team is no place for an egg. It's going to be a weakness for our enemies to exploit. It will be in constant danger."

Skipper takes a long drink of his coffee. "Then we raise our defenses and always keep it within the sight of someone capable." He says. "But killing off its father is not going to help anything."

Skippsy sighs and hangs her head. "I know..."

Skipper softly rubs her back. "I know, you're just scared and worried, but you can't take it all out on Kowalski."

Skippsy sighs and drinks some more of the coffee. "And I just...I can't have another screaming infant around, I just can't." She shakes her head. "I haven't slept decently in over a month due to those blasted meerkats!" She moans. "If it ain't the partying, it is the baby squalling and it's driving me insane!"

"I can see that." He says. "I'll have Kowalski come up with something to fix your sleep problems, like he did mine, and we'll come up with some acceptable, non-lethal punishment for them, eh?"

"Fine..." She sighs and rubs her temples. "I need a painkiller."

"Weeeeellll, you can't have one with that coffee." He chuckles. "Sorry."

Skippsy sighs. "Then give me another of those coffees, Skips."

Skipper nods and gets it for her. "Plus, have you seen Marissa so happy before? I can say it has been simply bliss not having Kowalski whining over that dolphin anymore."

"Yeah..." She looks towards the lab door. "It has been nice seeing her not so depressed..." She sighs. "I don't know, Skipper...Maybe this will be alright, but it is just..." She shakes her head.

"I know what you mean, Skippsy." He sighs and gives her the cup. "Maybe we make Kowalski take care of the first diaper change."

Skippsy chuckles and nods. "I've heard those are real doozies, he'd probably wish he was dead then."

Skipper nods and motions for her to follow him to the lab. He then carefully opens the door and peaks inside at the two scientists. "You see what you're wanting to mess up?" He whispers to her. "You really want to kill young love?"

She looks at the two cuddly love-birds and shakes her head with a sigh. "No...But you better punish him good, Skips." She says with a look.

Skipper gives her a mock salute. "Of course, dear tyrannical sister."

Skippsy rolls her eyes and drinks her coffee. "One of these days, Skips...It's going to be _pow_! To the moon!" She says and jokingly shows him her fist.

"Yeah, I'm sure." He chuckles and rolls his eyes. "You'll be too busy picking yourself up off of Mars."


	2. Part 2

_**A.N. - There will be a part 3 ^^**_

* * *

 **Part 2**

Skipper then waddles into the room. "Alright, crisis averted."

Kowalski sits up and looks at him. "Really?" He attempts to look around Skipper for Skippsy.

"Really." Skipper nods. "She's not happy, but she's no longer headhunting."

Skippsy waddles in and snorts. "Headhunting, bah." She looks at them. "Skipper and I will discuss your punishments later this evening. For now, though, Marissa, you take Kowalski's bunk and Kowalski sleeps in here. And don't either of you get any ideas." She looks at Kowalski. "You're still standing next to the chopping block." She glares.

"Yes, ma'am." Marissa nods and gets up from the lab bench.

"Take a trash can over with you, just in case." Skippsy says.

"Wha-what?" Kowalski looks at them confused. "Is she sick?"

Skippsy snorts and looks at him. "Yeah, she caught a little parasite from you. Eventually it's going to cause her to throw up and get pretty moody. And you know, I hope she throws up on you her first time." She harrumphs and waddles out of the lab behind Marissa.

"Ignore her, Marissa is fine." Skipper rolls his eyes. "Go ahead and get prepared for lights out." He says and follows his sister out.

Skippsy snorts as she drags a trashcan over to the bunks. She glances at Skipper. "What?"

"That's my bunk." He says.

"Eh, don't care." Skippsy shrugs. "We'll be talking most the night anyhow."

Skipper sighs and sits at the table and watches.

Skippsy comes grumbling over and sits down. "I can't believe my lieutenant has been sneaking out for six months." She sighs. "And then lied about it...And then thought a breeding program cover up was the best option. She's smarter than that!"

"Well…" Skipper shrugs. "Fear makes you stupid, doesn't matter if you're a skipper, a private, or a scientist." He sips his coffee. "They made what they thought was the best decision."

"Nearly anything else I would have preferred." Skippsy sighs.

"What? No points for creativity?" He chuckles.

Skippsy looks at him hard. "You wouldn't understand, Skips."

Skipper frowns. "What are you talking about? And don't give me none of that classified kipper, give me the whole enchilada, we're same rank, and you're my sister. Spill it."

Skippsy turns away again and takes a deep breath. "Skipper…."

"No no, you started, you're going to explain." He crosses his flippers.

"After you left Antarctica...I was captured by the humans and sent to a surplus zoo, Skipper." She glances at him. "You know what happens in a bad one of those? You're forced into breeding programs. Then if there are too many offspring, either they are sold off or killed…" She takes a deep, shaky breath before continuing. "I've been through the breeding program...It's not pleasant."

Skipper stares at her. "But you don't have any…" He stops and narrows his eyes.

Skippsy turns and glares with watering eyes. "You're right, I don't have any chicks. Know why? Because the one I had at seventeen went over their quota! They fed him to the seals, Skipper! To the freaking seals!" She growls. "Then they decided I was one female too many and they shipped me to your zoo…"

"Skippsy….I didn't know…" He looks at her open beaked.

"Of course you didn't." She snorts. " I didn't want anyone to know...To think if he'd lived, he'd be older than the Privates…" She shakes her head a little. "So you wonder why I got so upset still, Skipper?" She glares.

Skipper shakes his head and lays his flipper on her shoulder. "No...But we still have to be reasonable…" He sighs. He still is mentally on the fact that he had been an uncle...Even if it had only been for a small while.

"I know...They just….Surfaced some bad memories." She sighs.

Skipper rubs her shoulder and thinks in silence for a moment. "—I have an idea."

"Yes?" She lifts her head a little.

"We trade teammates. You have Kowalski for two weeks, and I'll tend to Marissa." He says. "And no lab privileges as well."

Skippsy considers this and hides an evil smirk with her flipper. "I actually like that idea."

Skipper looks at her. "And both must be returned in one piece back to their team, still breathing."

"Oh, I know, Skips." Skippsy chuckles. "I won't harm a little feather on his head. Let's wait until morning to tell them, though." She says.

Skipper nods and thinks. "Shall I make—"

"—No!" Skippsy looks at him. "I don't want another case of food poisoning, Skipper. I'll make us something, alright?"

"Nuh uh." Rico then chimes in, waddling past. He shakes his head looking at them. "I 'ook." He snorts and waddles into the kitchen.

Skippsy chuckles and watches him go past. "If you ever want a sergeant trade, I'll trade Rachel for him. It'd be nice to have someone who can and wants to cook around for a change."

"No." Skipper snorts and sips his coffee. "He ain't up for trade, sister."

"And seriously, neither is Rachel, but it still is nice though." She shrugs. Skipper rolls his eyes and waddles over to the table. "Come on, Skips! Can't take a joke?"

Skipper gives her a look and sits down. "No."

* * *

The next morning, Skipper and Skippsy glare at the coffee maker. "You made the last pitcher." Skipper mutters.

"No, _you_ made the last pitcher." Skippsy says. "There wasn't anymore to put in it."

Skipper groans and leans his head on the table. "But I _can't_ be out!"

"Hate to break it to you, but we drank it all." She sighs. "So you all will be having a coffee run no doubt."

Skipper nods and sighs. "Does Marissa have anything she needs to get from your habitat before we switch? If so, we'll use Kowalski while we can."

Skippsy nods. "She'll probably want to get a few things, yes."

"Alright, then I'll rouse them, you drop the bomb, then I'll take my team out to get my coffee. We'll meet back here for the switch."

"Alright, sounds like a plan." Skippsy nods and shakes her mug above her head, trying to get out the last few drops.

Skipper waddles over to the bunks. "WAKE UP!" He shouts.

Private and Rico roll out of their bunks and stand at attention. Marissa lifts her head and yawns and stretches.

"Get yourselves woken up, we need a coffee run." Skipper nods to them before waddling over to the lab and knocking loudly on it. "Up and attem, soldier!" He then waddles back to Skippsy with a nod.

Kowalski opens the door, looking bedraggled and tired. He goes and stands beside Marissa and the bunks.

Skippsy waddles over with her flippers clasped behind her back. "Skipper and I came to a consensus last night. For two weeks, the two of you will switch teams. There will be no lab or science time for either of you, though."

Marissa and Kowalski exchange glances before nodding. "That seems...A bit lenient actually." Marissa says.

Kowalski looks at her with wide eyes. "She means fair!"

"Are you saying you want a harsher penalty, Marissa?" Skippsy says.

"No, just stating an observation, ma'am." She shrugs.

"Then you better watch that beak of yours before it leads me down the road of thinking of a worse option, capiche?" She snorts.

Marissa nods a little and glances at the trash can.

Skippsy follows her look and nods. "Go on, holding it in doesn't help and won't last."

Marissa slides off then for the bathroom.

"DON'T SLIDE!" Skippsy gasps and face-flippers. "Our supposedly two most intelligent teammates, can't even handle a pregnancy right. That's pure instinct!"

"That's the problem. They use their brains, not their guts." Skipper nods.

Skippsy looks at him. "It should be common sense! Hmm, there is a fragile developing egg in my midsection area, I will throw myself upon it and rub it all along the ground! I mean, seriously?! What sense does that make?!"

"It's their first, Skippsy! They haven't had to learn about all this yet." He sighs.

"You'd think they might have researched as soon as they had found out." Skippsy grumbles and crosses her flippers.

Skipper shakes his head a little. "We'll swap you two out after the coffee run. Come on, men." He motions towards the ladder and starts up it. Rico and Private follow close behind him, but Kowalski lags behind. He looks towards the bathroom silently.

"Kowalski, go on before they leave you." She sighs. "She's fine, just experiencing her first bouts of morning sickness."

"So it's normal?" Kowalski looks at her.

"Completely normal." She nods. "Now shoo." She waves him towards the ladder. He reluctantly finally climbs up. Skippsy sighs and waddles over to the bathroom and knocks lightly. "Marissa? How's it going in there?"

There is a flush and Marissa waddles out. "It went gross…"

Skippsy softly looks at her and rubs her back. "Well, you'll probably be doing a lot of that between now and when you lay the egg. But it's worth it in the end." She smiles a little at her.

Marissa nods a little and sighs. "Okay…"

"Now let's go get your things and say your goodbyes to the others." Skippsy smiles at her. "It'll be over before you know it...But I will say nothing is going to be the same for you after this; nothing is going to be the same for both of you...All of us, really." She sighs. "But first things first, no belly-sliding unless you want to risk miscarriage, birth defects, or weak egg syndrome." She gives her a look as she helps her up the ladder.

* * *

Private grunts as he squats at the bottom of the penguin tower. "H-how much longer?"

"That depends on Kowalski." Skipper grunts with a glare up to the penguin in his shoulders. "Rico, Kowalski is working on the alarm, right?"

Rico looks scrutinizingly up at Kowalski. "Mhmm…" He then bites Kowalski's toe.

"CURIE'S MITTENS!" Kowalski exclaims and almost loses his balance. He glares piercingly at Rico. "RICO!"

Rico smirks and snickers. "'Ipper or'er."

"Kowalski! Get your tail into gear! I don't think Private can hold this stance much longer." Skipper shouts as he glances down at the younger, trembling recruit beneath his feet.

Kowalski grumbles to himself as he returns to concentrating on the alarm. He then hops down with a snort. "Fine. It's unarmed."

"Fish and chips, man, it took you long enough!" He shakes his head and nods to Rico. "The lock." He orders as he hops down from Private who collapses exhaustedly on the floor.

Rico coughs up the paperclip and unlocks the door. He then pushes it open for his teammates. Skipper takes point and holds out his flipper. "Flashlight me." He is given one and starts forward. "Kowalski, get the private."

Kowalski picks up Private and follows his two other teammates inside. He's mentally not even there.

Skipper shines his light down the aisles with a concentrated frown. "Ah hah!" He then exclaims. "Four man ladder, men."

Private groans to himself and climbs up onto Kowalski's shoulders. Rico comes up under Kowalski and Skipper climbs up his teammates to the top where he stands on tiptoe to grab his coffee. "Might as well grab another, no telling how often Skippsy and the others will be over now." He mutters, mostly to himself as he grabs another canister. He then hops down from them.

"Rico, our tab." Skipper says as he already heads for the door.

"Oh! Skipper! Skipper, they're back! They are back!" Private then squeals as he sees a stack of Peanut Butter Winky boxes.

"Eh, what are?" Skipper asks as he turns and looks.

"The Winkies, sir!" Private nearly bounces up and down. "Can we get a box?" He looks at his commanding officer and gives him his best puppy pout.

Skipper looks at him and at the candy bars. "Sure, go ahead and get a box. They must have sold their recipe to a new owner or something." He shrugs and continues out the door.

"Oh yay!" Private squeaks as he gets a box and happily hugs it close.

Rico hacks up the money and lays it on the counter before sort of shoving Kowalski out the door after the others. "S'ow poke." He mutters.

"I'm waddling, I'm waddling, Rico! Sheesh!" Kowalski grumbles, throwing his flippers, up in the air.

"Cou'n't 'ell." Rico shrugs as he waddles behind him.

Skipper glances over his shoulder. "Stop lollygagging, you two." He yawns. "I need to get this coffee brewing before I fall back asleep."

"But weren't you up all night, Skipper?" Private says.

"Exactly my point, Private." He yawns again.

"Wouldn't a nap be better then?" The young one asks.

Skipper glances at him. "Skippers don't nap." He then picks up his waddling pace.

"Well they certainly sneak a few minutes every so often…" Private murmurs to himself and shakes his head.

* * *

Marissa sighs and sits with her elbows on her knees. "How long does one of these usually last?"

Skippsy shrugs as she does a flipper-stand against the wall. "It's different for different penguin breeds. For us, it'd be about….Two months?" She shrugs and wiggles her feet in the air for a moment to keep her balance. "Then about a month or two for the egg to hatch."

"How do you know so much on this?" The scientist asks as she watches her.

"Well...I was a mother for a short time...My chick didn't make it, but that was long ago. At least what I learned there, we can put to use to make sure your and Kowalski's toe-biter is healthy and makes it to adulthood." She smiles a little.

Marissa's jaw drops. "Was Benjamin…?

"No, it was before Benny." She shakes her head. "A few years before Benny and I did anything…" She sighs.

"Have you told Ethan?" She asks.

"I'd rather never tell him, but no I have not yet." Skippsy tries some almost push-ups in her current position. "I'll tell him if it ever seems like we might get serious."

Marissa nods some. "That's smart."

"Smarter than sneaking out at night and doing things in the park where you could be seen by some poor baby critter that y'all'd've scarred for life." She says and gives her a look.

Marissa opens and then closes her beak as she hears the fish hatch open. "...I guess they're done finally."

"Skips probably fell asleep while they were there." Skippsy says as she cartwheels back onto her feet.

"I did not." Skipper snorts as he hops down the ladder. "Kowalski had to recall his brain from Rainbow Pony Land or wherever it was."

"It certainly was not off in a land of ponies, Skipper." Kowalski scoffs as he hops down after Skipper.

Skipper rolls his eyes. "The point is, your noggin wasn't on the mission where it should have been, soldier. Doesn't matter where it was, don't care." He sits the coffee on the counter. "I understand your world is topsy turvy now, Kowalski, but you're going to have to learn to balance it. You have to have your mind always on what your body is doing at that moment." He pounds his clinched flipper into his other. "Otherwise you might not survive a mission to be able to be there for your chick, comprende?"

Kowalski hangs his head a little and nods. "Yes, sir…"

"Good, now go grab what you need and get ready to go with Skippsy." He nods and starts his coffee maker. Skipper then looks at Skippsy. "Remember, I want him back in one piece and of sound mind."

"You know I can't promise that, Skips, but I'll keep it on the backburner." She sticks her tongue out at him.

Skipper shakes his head. "Always one for theatrics." He mutters before glancing over at Marissa. He waddles closer to Skippsy and lowers his voice. "So, uh, what all is she allowed to do?"

"No heavy lifting, nothing on her belly, no caffeine, nothing too labor intensive, but she still needs to do light exercise." Skippsy thinks. "Like she is just not allowed to get out of breath. No strong chemicals."

"Alright." He nods.

"Oh, and she may start cravings, it is best for her to get those because she will probably crave nutrients her body is low in that are necessary for the egg." She says. "Plus, otherwise she will be moody, and she's going to be moody enough as it is. Pregnant women get crazy."

Skipper looks at the scientist. "I'll keep that in mind."

Skippsy nods and looks at her scientist as well. "I'll have my group investigate on the zookeepers' plans."

"Good, do that." He nods again and sits down.

Skippsy nods and then waddles over to the lieutenants. "Alright, Kowalski, wrap it up. We need to be leaving."

Kowalski nods and Marissa hugs him. "Be careful." She says.

"I'll be fine, _you_ be careful." He says seriously.

"I'll be great, I brought my computer and playstation." She smiles and kisses his cheek. "Finally I can catch up on my games."

"Lucky you." He sighs and rubs her back. "I'll be in the dragon's lair, possibly wearing barbecue sauce."

"Skippsy isn't that bad." She shakes her head. "She's just like an overprotective mother to the three of us, and well, I don't think any mother wants to hear their kid got knocked up."

"You're right they don't." Skippsy says and motions for them to hurry up. "I've got a phone call meeting in an hour, we don't have all day."

Marissa nods and kisses Kowalski full on the beak. "Be thinking of some name suggestions." She smiles and then pushes him away. "Now go on, moron, before I keep you all day."

Kowalski sighs. "I'd rather if you kept me all night. I'll see you in a couple weeks." He smiles a tiny bit before he follows Skippsy out.

* * *

Kowalski groans as he flops onto the floor. "Has it been two weeks yet?" He moans.

"Tomorrow it will be." Rachel says as she blows a bubble with her gum in the bunk. "Now get back to scrubbing the floor before Skippsy's back in and she makes it worse."

"I don't think she could make it worse." He snorts and starts scrubbing with the small toothbrush again.

Rachel laughs and turns the page of her upside down magazine. "She'll start putting weights on your back or sit on it herself...Or have _me_ sit on your back as you scrub. Think, hombre, think! What would your Skipper do if in her place?"

Kowalski thinks on this for a moment. "He'd probably have me scrubbing with Rico chasing me with a flamethrower..."

"Bueno, you see? Things can always be worse." She turns the page again "Oh, that's pretty...I'll have to have Trixy read that later."

The scientist grumbles as he scrubs on the floor. These two weeks had been nothing but torture for him. Cleaning, posing for Rachel's painting, helping Trixy organize her bows, and training with Skippsy….He shivers before he scrambles to get out of the way of the elevator.

Skippsy steps out and looks around. "The floor's looking good, Kowalski, keep up the good work." She nods before waddling to the table. She pours two cups of coffee and looks at him again. "How do you have your coffee?"

Kowalski blinks and looks at her confused. "Come again?"

"You drink coffee, right?" She looks at him blankly.

"Erm….Yes?"

"Then how do you have it? Cream? Sugar? Milk? Fish?" She stares at him.

Kowalski thinks for a moment. "A little milk."

Skippsy nods and adds it to the cup. "Now come over here, I want a word with you."

"Yes, si—er, ma'am." He nods, dropping the toothbrush on the floor and waddling over to the table. He sits down and gets the cup, feeling his stomach twist anxiously. What had he done now?

The skipper stirs her fish in her cup for what feels like eternity to Kowalski before clearing her throat. "I hope you know that you and Marissa will have to get hitched now, right? I ain't having no soldier of mine have the chick of a deadbeat." She looks at him evenly. "I trust you wouldn't, but it will be easier in the long run for the chick as well since as it is it will be difficult going back and forth between zoos."

Kowalski looks into his cup of coffee at his own reflection. Marriage? Now that was something he had not thought of yet. "Of course…"

"Good. Now, I hope you don't have the feeling that I hate you, Kowalski, because I don't. Really. I am displeased by the actions of the two of you, but I do not hate you. I do think you are a decent match for Marissa and I'm proud."

"Pr-proud, ma'am?" He looks at her in shock.

Skippsy nods and sips her coffee. "Cupid couldn't have arranged a better match for her. She needs someone who can understand her, there aren't many men out there who could do that. I'm sure by now you know of her psych status?"

Kowalski nods slowly.

"Then you understand what I am speaking of." She says and stares into space a little. "She's struggled a few times….One time I nearly lost her to those struggles." She sighs and shakes her head. "She needs someone who will love her and help her overcome her battles in her mind. And I'm proud that she chose an intelligent penguin who will respect her and do such."

Skippsy stands up and clasps his shoulder. "I had to give you a hard time to test you. I had to make sure you were worthy and weren't going to chicken out."

"And I….?"

"You passed, and my treat I'll take you over a day early. Finish your coffee first." Skippsy smiles and then turns her head to murmur to Rachel. "He should be glad he's a male. In his current state, he'd never survive a year with us."

Rachel giggles and turns the page of her magazine.

Kowalski doesn't hear them as he hurriedly chugs his coffee and then scuttles to gather his things. Finally. This tortuous time was finally coming to a close.


	3. Part 3

**_I plan to begin the new book soon of their adventures in parenting ^_^ Thank you all for the reviews and reads!_**

* * *

 **Part 3**

"Now, I know I said we could go over early, but," Skipper says as she watches Kowalski hurry around, gathering his things. "I was thinking you might want to glance about Marissa's lab and level."

Kowalski shakes his head. "No, I'll let her show me those when she wants to. I just want to see _my own_ lab…" He sighs.

"And…?" The short leader crosses her flippers with a look.

"And Marissa of course," he says with a irked glance. "That was implied."

"Mhmhmm," she says with a tiny smirk. "Alright then, loverboy. Let's get this show on the road. Rachel, keep an eye out for Trixy. She's working hard with the welder in her level, if anything sounds wrong, any weird vibrations, go down and make sure she hasn't blown herself up, 'kay?" she says.

Rachel nods. "Okay," she says as she continues reading her magazine.

Skippsy nods and starts up the ladder. Kowalski scurries up it after her and shuts the food dish behind him. He begins towards the habitat wall, but Skippsy clotheslines him with her flipper. "Stop."

"What?" He looks at her, a bit winded.

"Andrew's coming," she says as she quickly jumps back downstairs and grabs a couple decoy penguins and sits them on their ice flow. "Okay, act natural...Well, normal penguin natural if you can manage."

Kowalski snorts. "Yes, I know how to act natural. I do live in a zoo after all."

Skippsy shrugs. "Hey, I don't know what all Skips trains you all. Now shush!"

The zookeeper steps into their habitat. "Alright, come here little guy," he says and grabs Kowalski. "We must have mixed you and the female up when we were getting you back from the nest."

"Well. That didn't go as planned," Skippsy murmurs thoughtfully. She watches as Kowalski is carried away.

* * *

Marissa sighs and lays in a small room behind a glass wall. There is a springy scene of colorful bunnies painted on the walls around her and white tiles on the floor. She checks the time on her phone and sighs again before turning over in the large silver nesting bowl. She then hears the door open and turns her head towards the door.

"NO! NO! Get me out! I will not stay here!"

It is quickly shut again and she sits up and leans to see around the corner. There is Kowalski frantically scratching at the door, looking panicked. "Kowalski?" she says.

Kowalski stops and looks at her. "Marissa?" He then looks further down her and his eyes get a bit wider. "You're um...Well...Looking well."

"I feel more like a whale." She sighs and lays back down on the nest. "A big beached beluga whale that is forced to lay on an uncomfortable rocky bay."

"What do you mean?" he asks as he waddles closer.

Marissa scoots over. "See for yourself, it's a dish full of rocks. I thought nests were supposed to be soft and cuddly."

Kowalski sits on it next to her. "Well, wild adelie's don't have access to fluffy stuff besides their feathers and snow and I suppose they were only recrea—Oh, you already know that."

"Yeah, but it's okay." She sighs.

He softly strokes her belly. "But you aren't a beached whale alone, Marissa. I'm here now."

Marissa smiles a little at him. "I've thought of some names."

"Oh?" He smiles at her.

She nods and sits up again. "I was thinking Nova or Telsa if it is a girl or maybe Atlas or Newton if it is a boy."

Kowalski contemplates this. "What if it is both?"

Marissa blinks and looks at him. "You mean because it is twins or hermaphroditic?"

"I was thinking twins, but it could be possible for a genetic error to occur." He shrugs.

"Unless there are identical twins sharing one egg, we are just having one chick, Kowalski." She shakes her head. "Or at least that's what the vet said."

"I suppose we won't know for sure until then. I do not have the technology here to make an ultrasound...Or er, a safe ultrasound that isn't potentially radioactive," he muses.

She shrugs. "It's just a few weeks until it is supposed to come. We can be pacient that long."

Kowalski stares at her. "We are stuck in this room for a few weeks?"

Marissa nods. "We're the parent exhibit that the Zoo Commissioner is very excited about. As long as they do not have us put on one of those webcams like other zoos do, I don't really care."

"We can put a webcam on loop." He sighs and lays back beside her and looks at her. "You're right, this really is not comfortable."

"Maybe we can get the others to bring us some pillows or something to lay on top of it." She nods.

Kowalski softly holds her flipper and looks up at the ceiling. "None of my teammates have a phone...Wait no, Private does." He sits up and takes out his blackberry and calls his teammate.

"Um, hello?" Private answers.

"Private, it's Kowalski, put Skipper on if you would, please." He then waits a moment and looks over at Marissa.

"Kowalski?"

"Skipper, we're in the children's zoo nursery, bring something soft when you guys come. Alice apparently thinks penguins sleep in nests of rocks," he says.

"We?"

"Marissa is here too. We're locked in, but I'm sure you guys can find a key this time around." He sighs.

"We'll see what we can do, soldier." He then hangs up.

Kowalski sighs and looks at her. "And you how was your punishment?"

"Decent actually, I spent most of the time playing _Portal_." She smiles. "Skippsy wasn't too hard on you, right?"

"Just a lot of cleaning and threats, nothing too intolerable." He fakes a smile. He didn't want to tell her it was like a march through Hades in a thick winter coat.

"Oh that's good, I was nervous she was going to test some of her different torture methods on you or something." She laughs awkwardly.

"No, no, it wasn't that bad," he says and softly kisses her flipper. "It was bearable and she even gave us her permission to be together."

Marissa gasps. "No she didn't!"

Kowalski smiles and nods. "With certain terms and regulations of course, but she did."

Marissa smiles and hugs him. "That's great...I was starting to think I would have to try raising it alone…" She has another awkward laugh.

"Of course not." He looks at her seriously. "Even if it was disapproved, it is half my chick so I am responsible for it at least half the time and energy. I'm not Cyryl."

She looks away and nods. "I know…"

Kowalski nods. "You can be completely certain that I will not have this chick with you and then leave you alone with it like Cyryl did with you and that pet frog...Do you still have the frog?"

"No…" She sighs and leans her head on his chest. "I tested a theory on it and it died, proving my theory wrong."

"That's a shame…" he says and then softly he rests his flipper on her belly. "And as tempting as I know it will be...We shouldn't run any tests besides the usual ones vets run on our chick."

"I know." Marissa sighs. "Private already went through a lecture on that possibly being chick abuse."

Kowalski chuckles at that and kisses her head. "But I'm sure we can always collect samples and test those…" He then looks up and meets the eyes of the purple painted bunny on the wall and a shiver runs down his back.

"What?" She sits up some and looks at him and then at the wall.

Kowalski just shakes his head and holds her close again. "Nothing...Just a draft in here I guess."

Marissa makes a face. "We're penguins, Kowalski, a little draft isn't going to affect us much."

"I just….I hate this room." He sighs and looks away. "When Invexpo came the last time, a billboard fell on me and I fractured both of my legs and was forced to be confined in here for a month...Spacesquids came and tried to take my Extento-Grab invention...And I missed Invexpo." He sighs. "I started talking to the rabbit!" He groans and puts his head in his flippers.

"Rabbit?" she mumbles and looks at him. "Spacesquids?"

"YES! I am indeed talking about YOU, Comedor Fluffington!" he exclaims jumping up and pointing at the purple rabbit painting.

Marissa looks at him with mild concern and lays her flipper on his. "Kowi...The wall rabbit hasn't spoken…" she says. It suddenly occurs to her that Kowalski may not be exactly one hundred percent right in the head...But then again, neither is she just in different ways. "Maybe you should take a nap….I think Skippsy overworked you way too much."

Kowalski grumbles something unintelligible before crossing his flippers. "I'm not crazy."

"No, of course not...You just are having a fit of delirium, nothing a good nap won't solve."

"It won't help anything if the East Wall Bunnies go through with their uprising!"

Marissa looks at him over the top of her glasses. "They're just paintings. They are not going to attack. You're sounding like a nut case, go to sleep."

Kowalski grumbles something else and curls up on the rocks. "They'll be no help if the Spacesquids return..." He yawns. "They still have not...Acquired...Grasping...Technolo..." He starts to snore once he has gotten into a comfortable position.

Marissa lays down next to him and pets his back some. "Poor thing...Already has fallen to cabin fever I guess...Or Skippsy has caused him to crack, which wouldn't be surprising," she mumbles to herself.

* * *

Weeks later they are still confined to the little pastel room. Marissa is too tired to do much besides watch as Kowalski paces in his moments of clarity. She knows he needs a break from the room, some time in open air, but much to their dismay, his teammates have so far failed to find a key to open the door. They had at least managed to squish a pillow and some blankets via the food tray slot, though, which was better than just laying on rocks all day. What more worried Marissa was the possibility of them not finding the key and her having to go through laying an egg alone with Kowalski.

"Can't they just pick the lock?" she asks, looking anxiously at Kowalski. She had been feeling more and more antsy lately, she figured it was just from all of this key business.

"They're too short without one of us." He sighs.

"Well! They can get Marlene, or Skippsy, or Rachel, or Trixy to help!" she growls. "We need that flipping door openable!"

Kowalski softly rubs her shoulders. "Calm down, we'll get it opened eventually."

"I AM CALM! DON'T YOU TELL ME TO CALM DOWN!" She glares at him. "Eventually is NOT soon enough!"

"Ah yes, you are calm, my mistake." He rolls his eyes as he rubs her shoulders gently. "They're trying as fast as they can. Skipper of course will want to exhaust his own methods before getting help."

"He needs to put his stubbornness aside; he's not the pregnant woman." She snorts and crosses her flippers.

"You know that, and I know that, but I don't think he's aware of how he is acting."

"Then let his tailholeness know, because I WANT THAT DOOR OPENABLE!"

Kowalski looks at her and sighs. "You should rest. Getting your blood pressure up to high won't be good for the egg."

"No." She gets up and starts slowly pacing. "I can't rest, not until that door can be opened."

He watches her with a concerned and helpless look. Maybe he could try to find a way out and then help his teammates find a way in. He looks around the room and sees an air vent up in the ceiling...But how was he supposed to get to it? Kowalski rubs under his beak as he looks around the room some more. He sees the baby animal incubator off on the left side of the room. "That could work."

Marissa stops and looks at him. "What could work?"

"I could push the incubator over there, climb up it and possibly reach the air vent. From there I'd follow the shaft presumably to another room from which I could find my way to the vet's office and see if I can find a key. I then could get it to the others and we could unlock the door."

"Love it, go do it." She nods eagerly. It actually sounded farfetched and relying on too much ifs for her taste, but one iffy option was better than whatever Skipper and the boys had been trying themselves.

Kowalski nods and lifts up on the brakes of the incubator and carefully nudges it along to the other side of the room. He flips the brake tabs back down and climbs up it to stand on the top. "I'll be back as soon as I have found that key." He nods before taking down the vent cover and pulling himself up into it.

Marissa nods and sits back down in her nest. She still feels anxious and fidgety and just weird in general. She curls up as she starts cramping. She then begins to feel panicked. "N-no, I can't go into labor now. I don't know what to do!" she gasps and curls more. She calls Kowalski, however he doesn't answer.

"Oh Newton's apple tree, I can't go through this alone!" she whimpers. She then tries calling Skippsy.

"Marissa! Hi! How is it going?" Skippsy says, sounding fairly upbeat and happy.

"I'm aaaaaaaaalll aaaaaaloooooonnnne in laaaaaaabooooor!" She starts crying. "It hurts!"

"Oh!" she gasps. "Don't move! Where are you? Where is Kowalski?"

"The children's zoo nursery, but I'm locked in. K-Kowalski crawled out the air vent t-to see if he could help Skipper find the key."

"Alright, Marissa, just stay calm, deep breaths, I'm on my way. I'll figure my own way in there. It's going to be okay," she says. "Stay on the phone; it'll help."

Marissa sniffs. "Okay…"

"You got a shrink ray?"

"On my lab bench...But it is highly unpredictable."

"Mhm….And I suppose TNT is out of the question…."

"Yes."

"What kind of lock?"

Marissa whimpers and curls more. "I don't know!"

Skippsy nods. "Alright, I'll just grab Trixy, I'm sure she can get the lock picked."

Marissa nods and then looks at the now open door. "They finally found the key…I think."

"Oh...Well, I'm still on the way. Stay calm and still." Skippsy then hangs up and slides that way.

Marissa moans and is curled up in the nest. Kowalski slides over to her. "Marissa? What's wrong?"

"It hurts!" she whimpers. "B-but Skippsy is c-coming…"

Kowalski nods and gets her flipper, feeling a little shocked and panicked himself now. He softly squeezes her flipper. "Just breathe, I'm sure Skippsy won't be too long."

Marissa nods and cries again. He softly strokes her head and looks anxiously at the door. He had told Skipper he was anticipating Marissa to begin labor within the next few days from her anxiety...But he hadn't been expecting it to be this soon. He softly puts the blanket over her as he looks over at the door again.

Skippsy slides over to them, kicking the door shut behind her. "Okay, we're going to need to reposition her," she says. "Kowalski, then you get her flipper and be beside her." Skippsy then softly has Marissa sit up with her legs out and spread. "Now start pushing. It's going to hurt a lot, but it has to happen."

Marissa nods and then grunts with a whimper as she pushes.

* * *

"Haha!" Skippsy smiles widely. "You can relax, it's out!" she says and takes the egg over to clean it off.

Marissa pants and leans back onto Kowalski exhaustedly. She tries a weak smile at him and he proudly kisses her cheek. He then softly brushes her feathers out of her face. "You did well, Marissa. You should nap a little. I can run the medical tests on the egg."

Marissa shakes her head. "I want to hold it first," she pants.

"Of course." He smiles and rubs her flipper.

Skippsy comes over with the egg wrapped in a green blanket with a zebra on it from the zoo gift shop. She smiles and carefully gives it to Marissa. "You did excellent, soldier. I'm proud of you." She smiles widely. "It feels like a healthy weight, too. No cracks or holes, a perfect little egg."

Marissa nods and holds her egg, looking at it almost in amazement. It felt nearly surreal to her, holding this little bundle that she and Kowalski made together. She can just barely believe it is really there. She softly runs her flipper along it before wrapping the blanket more around it and hugging it close. She felt...Different. Not bad different...But she could tell she certainly was not feeling like her normal self...Maybe happy? She looks at Kowalski and then at the egg again and smiles a bit more. That was it, she is feeling happy, such a foreign emotion in the past few years that she had nearly forgotten what it felt like.

Skippsy smiles. "I'm going back to the HQ and let you three get to know each other. No telling what Rachel and Trixy could have gotten into while I was here." She chuckles and waddles out.

Marissa smiles and hands the bundle to Kowalski. "You can give it the exam now." She nods.

Kowalski smiles and holds their egg and nods. "Then I'll be back. I'll have to go to my lab to do so."

"Oh...Um…" She frowns a little anxiously and starts like she will get up. "I should come too then…"

"No, no, you need to rest." He shakes his head. "It will be thirty minutes tops, I promise." He kisses the tip of her beak.

Finally she nods uneasily and watches as he goes with her egg. She lays back onto the nest and quickly drifts off to sleep. They still had not everything planned out...But wasn't that the adventure of parenthood? A full month until it will hatch and for sure things will not ever be the same again…

Marissa smiles in her sleep as she dreams of her and Kowalski and their little chick building a nuclear reactor in a lab. She snuggles more into her pillows and blanket and is still happily sleeping when Kowalski returns twenty minutes later with the egg. He smiles as he looks at her and softly lays the egg in her flippers before laying beside her and snuggling up close. A brand new chapter now is beginning in their lives, and he can't wait.


End file.
